this post was submitted on 26 May 2026
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You know that genetic clones are still individuals with independent brains, right?
Like twins don't have to take on the same profession or have the same personality. They're about as mentally different as any other random person.
Then, other than their genetic code, what else is copied between individuals? Is their brain fully encoded in their chromosomes? Does the queen ant go and copy the same brain into all worker ants? Do the worker ants, when pupating, connect to the colonies wifi network and download the current neuronal image for network booting?
Do they share their fingerprints (for example hair placement) too?
Insects are complex and different in how they process information. Ants are smart for insects, but still not fully individuals in the same way we look at mammals or other animals.
https://wildlifeinformer.com/do-ants-have-brains/
The simple answer is thoughts are pheromones. Essentially one ant shares it's individual experiences with the entire colony and the colony all works for the same goals. So yeah they kinda connect to the colony organic wifi by releasing the same chemicals that other animals do but the chemicals are shared.
So one feels rewarded, the rest do and that leads to them working together. This is why if you piss one off, they all attack because that chemical is shared with the colony and all of them become aggressive.
Also a vast majority of insects are born with all the basic functions and skills of an adult. They come out knowing exactly what to do and how. There really is no "learning", the colony learns the individual shares that knowledge.
So every new ant pops out fully functional and basically downloads the rest from the colony to know where found food/water sources are if they are collectors. If they are soldiers they instantly get in line to protect the hive and know the layout.
So every ant, clone or not, is probably set up to only function in a colony.
And I assume the genetics determine the language, so that even related ant nests don't merge but stay distinct?
I'm not as knowledgeable about ant genetics as the other fellow. But I do know ants recognize each other from the same colony through chemical signals.
There are insects that can hijack that, I think rival ants can even trick the ants of another colony to kill their own queen. There are also rival queens that can kill another queen and the rest of colony thinks that's their queen. Essentially stealing and entire colony of ants they did not birth.
So they are heavy into identification through chemical means over anything else. Genetics has not a lot to do with identification.
I'm more of a spider guy. But the insect and arachnid worlds are fascinating to me.
Ooh! I love arachnids! Did you happen to catch that research on their pneumatic mobility system that was used in miniature robot models? 😱😍... 😬
Recall seeing something on larger robots and limb movement using hydraulic compression but do share a link if you got it!
For sure! Here's a couple from a quick search: 1., 2.
The "language" you speak of is more often expressed via pheromones rather than sound xor gesture, where ants are concerned —similar to the majority of the insect kingdom, and beyond.
Here're some more ant facts!
~amidst~ ~silliness~
The argument is that ant colonies are better understood as organisms themselves with the individuals acting more like digits of the single organism.
Which you can argue for, but doesn't stem from them being all almost twins.
I can say Humans are 99.6% genetically identical, and I can say nations are kinda like independent organisms (more sketchy a statement than for ants), but I definitely can't say Humans are 99.6% genetically identical, and thus nations are kinda like independent organisms.
"Ants are almost twins" is not the cause of "Ants are not really autonomous individuals"
Nothing indicated they were upset at all, this comes across as very rude and dismissive.
Fair enough. Perhaps I'd read too many of their comments here in a row and lost perspective a bit. 🙇🏼♂️
Are you aware of what identical twins are?